Through The Mirror
'''''Through The Mirror is Ahpolki Inika's entry to the Halloween 2013 contest.'' Story Prologue So here was Toa Tuyet, floating in the void. Or at least, half of her was. The other half was back in her home dimension, no doubt disposed of by the rebels. Her world, her empire, ruined. All of it brought down by one single Toa. She growled, cursing his name. Oh, how she would like to gut him like a Visorak. Sadly, though, she knew that she’d never get that chance. What was worse was that she lost the Nui Stone in the whole affair. Now it’s floating in the space between spaces, forever lost. And much like it, she was caught between two stones as well: Life and Death. In one moment, she was dead. The next, a nameless force resurrects her. She sighed, turning her glance at a series of glass debris. At first glance, they were empty windows. Closer examination, however, revealed them to be much more. Every now and then, moving pictures appeared on the surface of the glass. One such moving image caught her attention. It was a birdeye's veiw of the Coliseum, laying in ruins. And she saw hundreds of Toa trying to rebuild it! This was her chance, she knew. “Swimming” through the weightless space, she pressed a palm on the window. That would become her greatest mistake. Suddenly, shadowy tendrils burst from the picture, ensnaring her like an Ash Bear in a trap. The image of the Coliseum changed into a sickening mesh of indiscribale faces. She screamed, but no sound escaped from her lungs. She struggled, but she couldn't break free. The thing pulled her through the looking glass, into a pit of nothingness. Around her were more of the mirror-like portals, revealing more universes and timelines. Something flew by the Toa of Water, but she didn't know what. As the trip endured, Death finally caught up to her, and reclaimed her soul. Unfortunately for her, even death can die. Chapter 1 When she (re)awoke, she found herself in a different place. Surrounding her were alien structures, built from ebony stone and a liquid silver. The natives of this world were just as strange, bearing varying forms. One citizen was tall and slender, lacking a face. Another was more alien and hideous, its only eye hidden behind a vertical mouth. One had its ribcage ripped open, tentacles squirming out of the open wound. In all, this weird world was a twisted perversion of Artahka. She turned her head to a massive building, a cathedral no doubt. Within the glass-stained windows were geometric symbols, each one surrounded by tendrils in a certain formation. Engraved on the bell tower was another symbol, this one an eye. Like the ones on the windows, it emitted tendrils as well. And she could’ve sworn that it was staring at her. Suddenly, she felt strong hands grabbing her arms. She looked to see two knight-like beings, clan in silver and gray armor. Their faces were covered beneath bandages, stained in an ash-gray. The world around Tuyet blurred, and she found herself inside of a fortress. The strangers were nowhere to be seen. Before her was a hooded figure, his face cloaked by darkness. In his hand, there was a staff of otherworldly origin. Of course, lacking everything below her waist, she felt like an insect before a god. Behind him were two more beings. One appeared to be a diver, its porthole-like eyes glowing in a pale yellow. The other was an organic star of someform, its many eyes staring at the near-(or perhaps un)dead tyrant. It bore a dozen arms, each hand wielding a different weapon. The man wasn’t paying any heed of her, though. Rather, his attention was to something else. That was when she noticed that he was tossing something around in his hand. To her shock, it was the Nui Stone, being flung around like some Matoran’s toy. Suddenly, the figure snapped its head to her, the artifact froze in midair. The next thing she knew, she was in the air facing him. Even this close, she couldn’t see what was beneath the figure’s hood. What she did notice, however, was the amulet around his neck. It was silver in color, bearing black markings that constantly shifted into different shapes. She recognized some of them from the cathedral, though the others were a mystery to her. And right now, she didn’t want to know what they represented. Tendrils emerged from behind the shoulders of the mysterious entity, circling around her. One of them tapped her forehead a couple of tips, before it impaled itself between her eyes. The Toa of Water screeched, a maddening pain ripping her mind and soul apart. Everything around was being broken down by the molecule, fading into nothing. And soon, so did the madwoman. Chapter 2 Tuyet swung her head up, choking and gagging in the heat. Wait, heat? Thought the madwoman. She opened her eyes, finding herself in a world of surprises. First off, she was whole again, everything below the waist restored. Although this overjoyed her, it didn’t really help in her current predicament either. She was chained to what appeared to a smith’s workbench, locked within a furnace of great magnitude. Was she in Ta-Metru? A response came to her, though not in a pleasant form. A Ta-Matoran-or at least, what was left of him- shambled his way to her. Most of his armor was melted off, revealing the flesh and machinery inside. Much of his head was melted away, reduced to a stump. The dead thing made his way to a set of levers, and pulled one. Tuyet could hear something moving, chains rattling. A massive vat of molten Protodermis was pulled over her, swing itself around. Its weight caused it to topple over, flipping upside-down. She screamed as its contents were spilt allover her. When the pain ended, she was no more. Or so she thought. Now she was standing atop the Chute Station, staring down at all of the Le-Matoran below. Or at least, they looked like Matoran from this height. Before she could ponder, she heard an “ahem” from behind. The madwoman turned to see a maskless Le-Matoran, his neck bent in an awkward position. An invisible force pushed her off the ledge, plummeting to her doom. She screamed, but once more, they were silent. A Phase Dragon grabbed her in midair, tossing her to another one, only to be tossed again to another one. The process went on and on until one missed his catch. Tuyet fell to the ground below, exploding into bits of shrapnel and blood. When her vision returned, she found herself lost in the Silver Sea. Her boat was leaving Ga-Metru, heading to an unknown destination. She never got the chance to find out, as a massive group of tentacles pulled her boat under the Protodermis. The Toa of Water tried using her Elemental power, but nothing happened. It was as if someone has placed an off-switch on it and snapped it apart. She tried using her maskpower, only realize that she didn’t have a Kanohi. She was completely powerless, vulnerable to the forces below. She swam away when the boneless limbs crushed her boat, making a mad dash for the surface. One of the slender masses wrapped itself around her lower body, pulling her further down. As the light faded away, she could see a Ga-Matoran waving at her. She had two holes were the lungs should be, empty and dark. Tuyet shock her head, and the Matoran vanished. After a few more seconds, she saw a light at the bottom. When she glanced down though, she shrieked, and began clawing at her own eyes. She allowed the water to flood her lungs as she was pulled, eager to escape from the hideous thing below. By the time she reached the seafloor, she was already blind and dead. She gasped, awakening in her living quarters. She quickly grabbed a Lightstone, obligating the darkness around her. She sighed in relief, and was about to doze off when her bed was sent spiraling into the wall. Fortunately, she was flung out of it before it crashed. Unfortunately, she was left face-to-face with the monster. It was an insectoid entity, bearing a Vahki-like head with large mandibles. He had four bladed legs, two massive pincers, and blood-red eyes. The roof was ripped off by another monster, though this one was far more gruesome. It easily towered over the two combatants, its teeth making the other’s claws look like sticks. Tuyet mad a dash for the backwall, only for the emerald-armed being to block her path. It threw its claw at her, but her mask allowed her to leap through the thing. She phased through the wall and grabbed her prize. The stone glowed, drawing power from every corner of the universe. She laughed, rising on a whirling pillar of water. She continued to rise for a moment, only for her to fall back to the earth. She fell headfirst, shattering her mask. As she was screaming curses, she inspected the Nui Stone for damage. It wasn’t in her hand. She panicked, and turned her head to a pile of dust. Her eyes widen at the sight, realizing what it once was. The monsters returned to her, snarling as they eyed her. Tuyet spotted something moving behind them, a small red figure. He pushed them aside and stepped forward, revealing himself to be a Turaga of Fire. He was clan in gold-and-crimson armor, wearing a Kanohi Hau. A look of disappointment was printed on it. It was the last thing she saw before the creatures tore her apart. Epilogue The hooded being starred at Its latest catch. Imprisoned within a glass window was the mad tyrant, Toa Tuyet (or at least, half of her). There she slept in suspended animation, locked with space and time. Though her body was frozen and unconscious, her mind was still at work. She would live through the visions and falsehoods implanted into that misshaped brain of hers, for all of entirety. Damnation would be a kindness compared to this form of torture. Still, like any trophy, it needs a story. Leaving a blank slate would be dull and boring. It pondered for a moment, and an idea crept into Its mind. Tapping the surface of the plaque with a digit, It channeled a strange energy onto it. The metal began shifting; words were being carved into it by invisible instruments. With Its work done, the being returned to Its throne of emptiness. ''The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet''' And so ends the tale of Tuyet the madwoman. Now she lives with her fellow inmates, in this world of strange eons. Here in this void, eternity lies outside of the ever-growing Multiverse. This is a place where light and dark are but myths. Here, the unimaginable thrive and fester. And it is here, that even Death can die. Characters *Tuyet (Dark Mirror counterpart) *The Abstract **The Shattered *A group of Matoran (all illusions) **A Ta-Matoran **A Ga-Matoran **A Le-Matoran *Nidhiki (as an illusion) *Botar (as an illusion) *Turaga Lhikan (As an illusion) Trivia *The final paragraph bears some refferences to a couplet found in The Nameless City, a short story written by HP Lovecraft: ''That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die. *The Plaque at the end is an obvious refference to the story Tuyet first appeared in. *All of the Matoran appearing in Chaper 2 were the all of the ones she killed on Metru Nui before Lhikan and Nidhiki defeated her. *A number of different versions of Tuyet appear in the main poster. Among the designers for each of them are: **Matoro1 (AKA, BobTheDoctor27) **Ihu **Jareroden97 **Artek the crazy one **AshkailWarrior792 **Firestar97 **Pokermask Gallery Through The Mirror 4.jpg|A varient of the poster featuring Ihu's model. Category:Short Stories Category:User:Ahpolki Inika